Category: Membership Systems

Affiliate disclosure: Creator Systems Hub may earn a commission if you buy MemberPress through links in this guide, at no extra cost to you. Prices and plan features were checked against MemberPress’s official website in September 2026 and can change.

MemberPress pricing is easy to underestimate. The licence is billed annually in US dollars, introductory prices rise at renewal, and the cheapest plan adds a 4.9% MemberPress transaction fee on successful payments. UK buyers also need to allow for payment-processing costs, exchange rates and any applicable tax.

This guide separates the headline prices from the ongoing costs so you can compare Launch, Growth and Scale on realistic numbers.

MemberPress pricing at a glance

At the time of checking, MemberPress advertised these introductory annual prices:

• Launch: $199.50 for the first year; normally $399 per year; 4.9% MemberPress transaction fee
• Growth: $349.50 for the first year; normally $699 per year; no MemberPress transaction fee
• Scale: $499.50 for the first year; normally $999 per year; no MemberPress transaction fee

These are annual licences, not monthly subscriptions. MemberPress states that renewal is charged at the full price, so budget from the normal figure rather than assuming the initial discount will continue.

Prices are displayed in US dollars. The amount charged in pounds depends on the exchange rate and any foreign-currency fees applied by your card provider. Tax may also affect the final checkout total.

What every plan includes

The current plan table lists unlimited members, memberships and subscriptions across Launch, Growth and Scale. All three also include the core tools needed to create protected content, registration forms and a self-service member area.

MemberPress documentation says its Courses add-on is included with every plan, although some advanced course features may differ by tier. This makes the entry plan more capable than its price alone suggests, particularly for a straightforward WordPress membership or course.

Launch: lower licence cost, higher selling cost

Launch has the lowest annual licence price and is intended as the entry route. Its most important limitation is not a missing design feature: it is the 4.9% MemberPress fee on successful payments processed through Stripe.

That fee is additional to Stripe’s own processing charges. For every £1,000 of successful membership payments, 4.9% represents £49 paid to MemberPress, before Stripe fees, refunds, tax tools and other operating costs.

• £1,000 revenue: £49 MemberPress fee
• £5,000 revenue: £245 MemberPress fee
• £10,000 revenue: £490 MemberPress fee
• £25,000 revenue: £1,225 MemberPress fee

This simple calculation ignores refunds and differences in how transactions are treated, but it shows why Launch can stop being the cheapest plan as revenue grows.

When does Growth become cheaper than Launch?

Using the published introductory prices, Growth costs $150 more than Launch in year one. Dividing that difference by 4.9% gives an illustrative break-even point of about $3,061 in successful payments.

Using the published normal annual prices, the gap is $300. The same calculation gives an illustrative break-even point of about $6,122 in successful payments.

Those figures are not a quote. UK exchange rates, tax and the exact transactions to which fees apply can change the real result. They do demonstrate the decision method: compare the higher annual licence cost with the transaction fees it removes.

Growth: the likely comparison for an established membership

Growth removes the MemberPress transaction fee and adds broader marketing and community capabilities. MemberPress currently lists PayPal, Square and offline payments for Growth and Scale, while Launch is built around Stripe.

Growth is likely to be the practical middle option when:

• Your expected revenue makes the 4.9% Launch fee expensive
• You need PayPal, Square or offline payment options
• You want more advanced marketing integrations
• You need community forums, directories or wider page-builder support
• The site is already generating enough income to justify the higher renewal price

Do not upgrade only because a feature sounds useful. List the gateways, integrations and community tools you will actually use, then check them against the live comparison table.

Scale: specialist tools for more complex businesses

Scale is the highest-priced plan. MemberPress positions it for more advanced automation, communication and enterprise requirements.

Its current headline differences include direct messaging, checkout upsells, Amazon S3 integration, protected download management and Authorize.net support. These can matter to a larger operation, but they are unlikely to justify the price for a new site that only needs protected articles, a course and recurring payments.

Payment-processing fees are separate

Removing the MemberPress transaction fee does not remove fees charged by Stripe, PayPal, Square or another payment processor. Processor pricing varies by country, card type and payment method, and can change independently of MemberPress.

When forecasting costs, include:

• The annual MemberPress licence
• Any MemberPress plan transaction fee
• Payment-processor percentage and fixed fees
• Currency-conversion charges
• Refund and dispute costs
• Tax-calculation services
• WordPress hosting, backups, security and email delivery

Stripe Tax and UK VAT

MemberPress provides tax settings and an integration with Stripe Tax. Its documentation explains that Stripe Tax can calculate tax on one-off and recurring payments, but using the Stripe Tax API carries separate Stripe charges.

That software does not decide whether you must register for or charge VAT. The correct treatment can depend on your turnover, business location, customer location and what you sell. Ask a qualified UK accountant or tax adviser about your circumstances.

The hidden cost of WordPress ownership

MemberPress is a plugin rather than a hosted platform. You still need a suitable WordPress website. Depending on your setup, total ownership may include:

• Domain and managed WordPress hosting
• Premium theme or page-builder licences
• Backups, security and performance tools
• Transactional email delivery
• Developer or support time
• Additional marketing and automation services

This is not necessarily a disadvantage. WordPress can provide greater ownership and flexibility, but it means MemberPress should be compared on total operating cost rather than licence price alone.

Which MemberPress plan offers the best value?

Choose Launch when you are validating a small membership, expect modest initial revenue, are happy to use Stripe and value the lower upfront licence cost.

Choose Growth when sales volume makes the 4.9% fee uneconomic, you need additional payment methods or you will genuinely use its marketing and community features.

Choose Scale when Authorize.net, advanced downloads, direct messaging, checkout upsells or enterprise-style requirements have a clear commercial value.

For most serious comparisons, Launch versus Growth is the key calculation. Scale should be justified by specific required features rather than the assumption that the highest tier is automatically better.

A five-minute cost check before buying

1. Estimate successful payment revenue for the next 12 months.
2. Multiply that revenue by 4.9% to estimate the Launch plan fee.
3. Add the relevant annual licence price.
4. Add payment processing, hosting and essential services.
5. Compare the totals and confirm required gateways and integrations on the live plan table.

Then read our full MemberPress Review UK for advantages and limitations, or follow the practical guide to building a membership website with MemberPress.

Check the latest MemberPress prices and plan comparison →

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Official sources checked September 2026: MemberPress pricing, MemberPress payment gateways, Stripe Tax with MemberPress and Getting Started with MemberPress. Prices, promotional discounts, fees and features may change.

Affiliate disclosure: Creator Systems Hub may earn a commission if you buy MemberPress through links in this guide, at no extra cost to you. This guide is based on MemberPress’s published documentation and does not claim hands-on testing where none occurred.

Building a membership website is not simply a matter of installing a plugin. Before you open WordPress, you need to decide what members will receive, how they will pay and which content should remain public.

MemberPress provides access rules, registration pages and subscription tools, while WordPress remains the website underneath. This guide covers a practical setup sequence and the UK-specific costs and decisions worth checking before launch.

What you need before starting

• A working WordPress website with HTTPS enabled
• A recent backup and a reliable backup process
• A MemberPress licence that supports the features and gateways you require
• A Stripe or other supported payment account
• A clear membership name, price and billing interval
• At least one piece of members-only content
• A public sales page and support contact
• Privacy, cookie, terms and refund information appropriate to your business

MemberPress is a WordPress plugin, so hosting, security, updates and performance remain your responsibility. If you do not want to maintain WordPress, a hosted membership platform may be a better fit.

Step 1: Define the membership before choosing settings

Write down four decisions first:

1. What result or ongoing benefit will members receive?
2. Will the membership be free, a one-off payment or recurring?
3. Which content will members be able to access?
4. What happens when a payment fails or a member cancels?

Start with one clear membership level if possible. Several overlapping tiers make access rules, customer support and pricing pages harder to manage.

Step 2: Install MemberPress and activate the licence

After purchasing MemberPress, download the plugin ZIP from your account. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New, upload the ZIP, install it and activate the plugin.

Open MemberPress in the dashboard and activate your licence. A new installation should offer an onboarding wizard covering the initial feature, content, membership, protection and payment choices.

Update WordPress and existing plugins first, confirm that backups work and use a staging site when changing an established website.

Step 3: Configure the core settings

Open MemberPress > Settings and check:

• Currency and regional settings
• Account, login and thank-you pages
• Email sender details and member notifications
• Fields collected during registration
• Tax settings
• Payment settings
• Permissions and access behaviour

MemberPress creates default pages for key parts of the member journey. Visit those pages while logged out so you can see what a prospective member will experience.

Step 4: Connect a payment gateway

MemberPress currently documents support for Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net and offline payments, with availability varying by plan and checkout route. Stripe is the gateway offered during onboarding.

Go to MemberPress > Settings > Payments, add your chosen gateway and use its test or sandbox mode before accepting a real payment.

• Check the business name shown on the customer’s bank statement
• Confirm supported currencies and recurring-payment methods
• Compare payment processor and MemberPress transaction fees
• Review refund and failed-payment handling
• Check whether automated tax calculation adds a separate cost

At the time of checking, MemberPress lists a 4.9% transaction fee on successful payments for its Launch plan, on top of normal processor charges. Pricing can change, so check the current plan page using the button near the end of this guide.

Our MemberPress pricing guide includes worked fee examples and an illustrative Launch-versus-Growth break-even calculation.

Step 5: Create the membership product

Go to MemberPress > Products and add a product. Set a clear public name, price, billing type, interval, any trial period and a concise description of what is included.

Avoid vague names such as “Gold” unless the difference from other levels is immediately obvious. “Monthly Resource Library” or “Annual Training Membership” is easier for a buyer to understand.

Each membership product receives its own registration page and URL, which you can link from sales pages, navigation and emails.

Step 6: Protect content with rules

Creating a product does not protect content by itself. MemberPress uses rules to decide what a person must have purchased before they can view selected content.

Go to MemberPress > Rules and create a rule for the relevant page, post, category, tag, child pages or custom post type. Assign the membership product that grants access.

Test three states: a logged-out visitor, a registered user without the membership and a member with access.

Step 7: Build the public sales journey

A technically working registration page is not the same as a persuasive sales page. Your public page should explain who the membership is for, its result, what is included, how often new material appears, the price, cancellation and refund terms, frequently asked questions and the next step.

Link the main call to action to the membership registration page. If you offer several products, MemberPress Groups can present those memberships together on a pricing page.

Step 8: Add courses only when the offer needs them

MemberPress says its Courses add-on is included with all plans. Install it from MemberPress > Add-ons, then use MP Courses to create structured learning content.

A membership does not automatically need a formal course. A resource library, private newsletter or workshop programme may be easier to navigate without an LMS. Use courses when learners benefit from a sequence.

Step 9: Configure email and support

Review every automated email sent during registration, payment, cancellation and password recovery. Use an address on your own domain and test whether messages arrive in major inbox providers.

Add a visible support address and short answers for common issues such as forgotten passwords, failed payments and cancellations.

Step 10: Check UK tax and consumer information

Software cannot decide your legal obligations. UK VAT treatment can depend on what you sell, where customers are located, your turnover and whether the supply is treated as a digital service.

• Decide whether prices are shown inclusive or exclusive of tax
• Confirm what evidence is collected about customer location
• Check invoice and receipt requirements
• Publish clear cancellation and refund terms
• Explain immediate access to digital content appropriately
• Ask a qualified accountant or adviser about your circumstances

Do not copy another membership site’s legal pages and assume they apply to your business.

Step 11: Run a complete test purchase

Use a staging site or test mode and complete the whole journey as a customer:

• Visit the sales page while logged out
• Choose the membership and register with a new email address
• Complete a test payment
• Confirm the welcome email arrives
• Log in and access protected content
• Update account details
• Cancel or simulate a failed renewal
• Confirm access changes as expected

Repeat the test on a phone. A membership that works only on the administrator’s desktop is not ready to launch.

Step 12: Launch small and monitor the first members

Invite a small group first. Watch for unclear instructions, payment friction, missing emails and access-rule mistakes, then fix those before promoting the membership widely.

Monitor registration conversion, failed payments, support questions, member usage, refunds, cancellations and the reasons members give for leaving.

A sensible starter structure

• One recurring membership product
• One protected content category
• One public sales page
• One registration page
• One member welcome page
• One support page
• A monthly publishing schedule

Add tiers, community features, automation and advanced reporting only when a genuine need appears.

Final checklist

• WordPress, hosting and backups are ready
• MemberPress licence is active
• Currency and core settings are correct
• Payment gateway works in test mode
• Membership product and billing terms are clear
• Access rules have been tested in three user states
• Sales and registration pages work on mobile
• Emails arrive and identify the business clearly
• Tax, privacy and refund information has been reviewed
• A complete test purchase has succeeded
• Support and cancellation routes are visible

Is MemberPress the right choice?

MemberPress is most attractive when you already use WordPress and value control over your website, member experience and content structure. It is less attractive if you want a completely hosted system with minimal technical maintenance.

For pricing, plan differences and the main advantages and drawbacks, read our MemberPress Review UK before choosing a licence.

Check the latest MemberPress plans and introductory pricing →

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Sources checked September 2026: Getting Started with MemberPress, MemberPress Payments, Creating Memberships and MemberPress Courses. Features, restrictions and pricing may change.

Affiliate disclosure: Creator Systems Hub may earn a commission if you buy MemberPress through links in this article, at no extra cost to you. This review is based on MemberPress’s published plans, features and documentation; prices and plan inclusions can change.

If you want to sell memberships, protected content or online courses from a WordPress website, MemberPress is one of the best-known tools built specifically for the job. It gives you control over your website and customer experience, but that control comes with more setup and maintenance than a fully hosted platform.

Quick verdict: MemberPress is a strong choice for creators and small businesses that already use WordPress and want to own their membership platform. Its access rules, recurring subscriptions, course tools and extensive add-ons make it capable, but beginners should account for hosting, payment processing, introductory pricing and the transaction fee on the Launch plan.

View the latest MemberPress plans

What is MemberPress?

MemberPress is a premium WordPress plugin for creating paid membership websites. It can protect pages, posts, categories, tags, custom post types and downloadable files according to the membership or product a customer buys.

It also supports recurring subscriptions, one-off payments, pricing pages, coupons and self-service member accounts. The MemberPress Courses add-on, which the official documentation says is included with all plans, lets you build and sell courses inside WordPress. Other add-ons extend the system into coaching, communities, directories, corporate accounts and additional integrations.

MemberPress pricing

MemberPress sells annual licences in US dollars. When checked in September 2026, its pricing page advertised the following introductory prices:

• Launch: $199.50 for the first year, normally $399 per year
• Growth: $349.50 for the first year, normally $699 per year
• Scale: $499.50 for the first year, normally $999 per year

These are promotional first-year prices, not permanent annual rates. MemberPress states that renewals are charged at the full price. UK buyers should also allow for exchange-rate movements, possible taxes and the normal fees charged by payment processors.

The Launch transaction fee

The Launch plan adds a 4.9% MemberPress transaction fee to each successful payment. This is separate from Stripe, PayPal or other payment-processing fees. Growth and Scale advertise no MemberPress transaction fee, so a growing membership can reach the point where upgrading costs less than continuing to pay 4.9%.

MemberPress advertises a 14-day money-back guarantee. Always check the live pricing page and terms before purchasing.

Key MemberPress features

Flexible access rules

MemberPress’s core strength is deciding who can see what. You can protect individual pages, groups of posts, categories, tags, custom post types and files. This suits paid newsletters, resource libraries, training portals and multi-level memberships.

Recurring and one-off payments

You can create memberships with recurring or fixed billing terms. The official documentation supports weekly, monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, annual and custom intervals. Customers can manage their subscriptions from a self-service dashboard.

Online courses

MemberPress Courses adds a learning-management system to WordPress. Creators can organise curricula and lessons, add quizzes and sell course access through MemberPress products. This makes it possible to combine a course with an ongoing membership rather than maintaining two separate platforms.

Coupons, pricing pages and checkout tools

MemberPress includes custom coupons and pricing-page tools. Higher-level capabilities and add-ons can add order bumps, upsells and downsells, helping established sites increase the value of each checkout.

Drip content

Content can be released gradually or set to expire. A training business could unlock lessons each week, while a membership could make an archive available only after a customer has subscribed for a certain period.

Integrations and add-ons

MemberPress connects with popular email-marketing, payment and automation tools. Its catalogue includes integrations and add-ons for services such as ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Drip, Mailchimp, Zapier, Elementor and other WordPress products. Availability can vary by plan, so check the comparison table for any integration you consider essential.

Advantages for UK creators

• You control the platform: your content and member experience remain on your WordPress website.
• Strong access control: membership rules can protect many different WordPress content types.
• Courses and memberships together: useful for creators combining structured learning with recurring content.
• Recurring revenue tools: subscriptions, trials, coupons and account management are built around membership businesses.
• Room to expand: coaching, community, directories and corporate memberships are available through the wider MemberPress system.
• Tax support: MemberPress advertises built-in tax calculations, including VAT, with TaxJar integration.

Limitations and costs to consider

• WordPress is required: this is a plugin, not a standalone hosted service.
• You manage the technical stack: hosting, updates, backups, security and plugin compatibility remain your responsibility.
• Renewal prices are much higher: budget using the normal annual price, not only the introductory offer.
• Launch takes 4.9%: this is charged in addition to payment-processor fees.
• Paid yearly: the upfront cost may be less comfortable than a monthly hosted platform.
• Add-on complexity: advanced sites may need time to choose and configure the right extensions.

MemberPress versus a hosted membership platform

MemberPress gives you more ownership and WordPress flexibility. You choose the host, theme, plugins and structure, and you are not locked into a single hosted creator platform. The trade-off is responsibility: you need to maintain the site and resolve conflicts or performance issues when they occur.

A hosted platform may be easier for a complete beginner because hosting, software updates and infrastructure are handled for you. MemberPress is more attractive when WordPress ownership and customisation outweigh the convenience of an all-in-one subscription.

Who should choose MemberPress?

MemberPress is worth considering if you:

• Already have a WordPress website
• Want to sell protected content or recurring memberships
• Need detailed access rules
• Plan to combine courses with a membership
• Prefer owning your website and customer journey
• Are comfortable maintaining WordPress or paying someone to help

A fully hosted platform may be more suitable if you want the least technical setup possible or do not want responsibility for hosting, updates and backups.

If you decide WordPress ownership is the right route, follow our step-by-step guide to building a membership website with MemberPress in the UK, including setup, access rules, payment testing and the UK-specific checks to make before launch.

Which MemberPress plan makes sense?

Launch is the lower-cost entry point, but calculate the effect of its 4.9% fee using realistic sales figures. Growth is likely the more sensible comparison for an established membership because it removes that MemberPress transaction fee and adds broader marketing capabilities. Scale is aimed at larger operations needing the widest set of community, messaging, automation and enterprise tools.

Do not choose solely from the plan names. Make a short list of the payment gateways, integrations and add-ons you require, then confirm each one in the live comparison table.

For a worked comparison of the annual prices, renewal costs and Launch fee, read our MemberPress pricing guide for UK buyers.

Final verdict

MemberPress is a capable option for building a serious membership business on WordPress. Its access rules, subscription tools and included course capability cover the foundations well, while its add-ons provide a path into coaching, community and more complex membership models.

The main decision is not simply MemberPress versus another plugin. It is whether you want the flexibility and ownership of WordPress enough to accept the maintenance, annual licence cost and more involved setup. If the answer is yes, MemberPress belongs near the top of the shortlist.

Check the latest MemberPress plans and introductory pricing

Pricing and feature information checked against MemberPress’s official website and documentation in September 2026. Promotional pricing, renewal costs and plan inclusions can change.